Financial Freedom 101
Affirmation: I draw my personal abundance from an infinite source.
“When you can imagine, you begin to create, and when you begin to create you realize that you can create a world that you prefer to live in, rather than a world that you’re suffering in.”
—Ben Okri
Abundance is a mindset. If we believe in infinite abundance, then we attract it.
In this Permaculture Summit Presentation Jean summarizing keys of financial freedom and how to diversify your streams of abundance through the power of regeneration!
Live more simply. Do not spend beyond what you earn on a monthly basis. In other words, spend less on your lifestyle than you generate in income.
Here are some of the key takeaways from Jean’s career in finance and her own personal development as a financially sovereign being:
*Understand and observe where you are now.
We can’t achieve financial freedom without knowing our starting point. Do a personal financial audit of yourself: How much debt do you have? How much do you have in savings? How much money do you need to feel safe and comfortable?
*Look at money as a flow of abundance and positivity.
Debt can certainly be disheartening. But keep in mind that money is a great resource, even if it appears to carry a burden now. If you view money or currency negatively, you’ll subconsciously sabotage your chances of making and keeping it.
We all deserve financial freedom and sovereignty. To achieve it, we need to view currency as an instrument to accomplish our dreams, fuel our vitality, and assist us to thrive.
*Write down your financial goals. Visualize!
Consider tying your goal to something emotional and tangible. “When I accomplished sovereignty, it was because I tied it to a passionate goal. I was twenty-four and had to move back into my parents’ house after college and another relationship breakup. This was when I set a financial goal: to move out of my parents’ house as soon as possible.
That strong desire kept me driven to reach my goal throughout my journey. In my second year of working as an accountant, spending very little while living with my parents, I was able to save up enough to make a down payment on a condo in Seattle. This enabled me to move out of my parents’ house and start paying toward my house every month instead of paying rent. When I decided to travel, I rented out this home for a year, which gave me passive income as I traveled.” Jean Regenerate Your Reality Book
You will not fulfill your goal in a month. However, a year or two could be enough time to create significant progress toward your financial goal. Make sure your goal is tied to a particular number and clearly envision your dreams.
Accept it or not, you will subconsciously be working toward these objectives without even realizing it. Knowing exactly where you are now and setting goals for where you want to be are keys to achieving financial freedom.
*Make a budget. Become aware.
“A critical step toward sovereignty is bookkeeping. In my early twenties, I utilized a tool called Mint. This app made a difference in helping me keep on budget by following my expenses, which categories I overspent in, how much cash I had in all of my accounts, and how much credit card debt I had.
When you get comfortable with keeping a budget, you naturally won’t have to track your expenses as much. In addition, you’ll probably stop spending on unnecessary items when you begin to consider each expense as an investment in your body, family, community, or the earth. After tracking my expenses for so many years, now I am just aware of what is necessary to purchase and what is not. I am aware of the dangers of unconscious consumption, and I choose to vote with my money, energy, time, and cryptocurrency.” Jean Regenerate Your Reality Book
Spend Less, Live Simply, & Plant Trees.
Buying less stuff can actually help you attract more abundance. When you spend less, two things work in your favor. First, you’ll have more money to put aside toward your financial freedom. Second, you’ll learn that you actually need a lot less than you think to thrive. This helps you put aside more for later.
Major items we cut out from our life include: hairdressers, shopping firsthand (now we trade clothes or purchase secondhand), fitness memberships, and buying things at department stores. Nowadays, we try to make and recreate with the stuff we already have, repurpose, or give away. we also try to purchase locally to support our community. It is so important to exchange resources with your direct community. This local market activation will help the health and wealth of your community to blossom.
Take Control of Your Abundance
*Pay off debt.
*Be a business owner.
Work for yourself. Offer consulting to others, and create your own schedule. Launch your own project, or partner with others to create your own business or cooperative. By being a business owner or involved in a cooperative, we am building up financial equity through our work. There are tax benefits to being a business owner and holding equity in a project instead of paying yourself out and getting taxed on it.
*Diversify your income streams.
If you’re serious about financial freedom, you have to start creating new sources of income. It is important to have multiple income streams. The more diversity you have in your income, the less fragile your freedom will be.
If you work for a company in a nine-to-five job, trading your time for money, you’re limited by the hours in the day. On the other hand, if you find gig-style work or consult for others, you can control your hours.
It’s all about time. If you are lacking the time to diversify your earnings through active income, passive income streams allow income to flow in without as much energy invested
*Invest in your future. Continue dreaming and reevaluating your goals.
WE HAVE ALL HEARD THE SAYING, “DON’T PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET.” WELL, WE CAN LOOK AT FINANCES SIMILARLY. WE MUST DIVERSIFY AND INVEST IN OUR EARTH AND THE WELL-BEING OF ALL OUR COMMUNITIES:
LAND
Birds Eye View of our 2.5 acres we steward
I highly recommend investing in real estate and learning about small-scale farming. True financial freedom comes from living rent-free and growing at least some of your own food. You could get there by owning your own land or living on someone else’s land in exchange for helping with the crops. Another option could be building on a friend’s or family member’s land.
I acknowledge that land ownership is not an ideal system, as there is so much resource inequality worldwide. I much prefer certain indigenous philosophies that regard the land as a communal resource, with ownership vested in the group rather than in any one individual.
We give the greatest gift of abundance to the earth and future generations when we steward our lands, planting organic crops and fruit trees. As we plant and regenerate the land, we increase our shared biological, spiritual, and emotional capital. My partner and I are filled with happiness, knowing we are sovereign.
WATER
Water is life, and investing in your own natural spring or water source for your community is important. For example, you can invest in building your own rainwater collection system or creating a well. Water should not be monetized or privatized.
REGENERATIVE STARTUPS AND COMMUNITY PROJECTS
When I was looking at mutual funds and green investment vehicles, I was shocked to find that many green companies were just “washed green” with their philanthropic giving. I highly recommend overseeing what you invest in. For example, I have invested in aligned initiatives such as Jungle Project and other women-led organizations. I have also invested in my family’s farm project in our backyard. Land capital and stewardship can be far more fulfilling than just a monetary investment.
CRYPTOCURRENCY
The idea of cryptocurrency is to decentralize the banking system and put economic power into the people’s hands. I recommend purchasing Bitcoin and a few other cryptocurrencies you like because a select few individuals in charge of the entire global monetary system should not control the future. And remember, never invest more than you would feel comfortable losing! (I have to say that 90% of my portfolio is Bitcoin) :)
SELF-LOVE
It is crucial to invest in yourself. If you are your best self, comfortable in your own skin, and full of gratitude for life and joy in the small moments, then you will attract more of that. Like attracts like. Each year, I take at least one retreat or vacation to honor my own needs (yes, this is a privilege). Last year, I attended the Mujeres Fuertes self-defense experience with Toby Israel; a virtual Aphrodite goddess temple with Camille Willemain; a Mindful Magic Women’s Circle with Ciara Lemony; a fermentation class with Lala Palmieri from Weaving Remedies; and a regenerative living class with Sarah Wu at Punta Mona. Invest in yourself; it will come back to you tenfold.
TIME MANAGEMENT
Before I valued my time as I do now, my schedule was booked up with meetings all day. Sometimes I would even accept meeting requests from different time zones and take calls late in the evening. Many of those meetings seemed to last forever, with no real purpose or goal. I would work weekends to make deadlines for clients.
One day, during my last year in the corporate world, I flipped the switch and took back control of my career and my time. I blocked out full days on the calendar and all mornings and nights to avoid unexpected meetings and focus on completing meaningful tasks. I also blocked out my lunches and exercise breaks to support my well-being and happiness.
Now, with a different perspective on time, I only schedule recurring virtual meetings two days a week. I try to finish all my office work in short and effective working sessions. I minimize my time reading the news or surfing social media. I even shut off my phone at least one day per week. I don’t want to live in a virtual world, zooming from meeting to meeting every single day. I need to live in the real and tangible world.
Each week, I also dedicate a day to processing food and creating prepared dishes for the next week, such as root soup, sauces, elixirs, and spreads. A few years ago, I realized that the most expensive products I was buying I could easily make at home. I feel so empowered by fermenting my own homemade kombucha, ginger beer, sauerkraut, and vinegars. The medicines I make elevate me. Creating my own medicines at home saves me from purchasing products with uncertain origins or ingredients.
As I think about financial freedom, I realize that time is a large part of it. We live with fullness and freedom when we cut out activities that are not healthy, set boundaries around work or social commitments, and cultivate discipline with movement and exercise.